Win, place and always a show

These 25 races show why a day at Saratoga is never predictable

Tim Wilki, Times Union

By Tim Wilkin

Updated 3:02 pm, Friday, July 26, 2013

Rachel Alexandra with jockey Calvin Borel up(r) out finishes Macho Again with jockey Robby Albarado up to win the 56th running of the Woodword at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York September 5, 2009. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) Saratoga racing

Alpha with jockey Ramon Dominguez, left dead heats with Golden Ticket with jockey David Cohen, right for the win in the 143rd running of The Travers Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Aug. 25, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Times Union Staff Photo by SKIP DICKSTEIN. FOURSTARDAVE TAKES HIS FINAL GALLOP ON THE MAIN TRACK OF THE SARATOGA RACE COURSE UNDER HIS REGULAR JOCKEY RICHARD MIGLIORE. STRAINS OF AULD LANG SYNE PLAY OVER THE PA SYSTEM AS THE 10 YEAR OLD GELDING TAKES HIS FINAL APPLAUSE AUGUST 28,1995.
(SKIP DICKSTEIN)

Thousands of races have been run at Saratoga Race Course over the past 150 years. How do you pick just 25? The Times Union's turf writer Tim Wilkin gives it a try.

Aug. 4, 1973: The horse that just could not lose, lost. The mighty Secretariat, the first Triple Crown winner since 1948, was supposed to roll past the other four runners in the Whitney Handicap. Sent off at odds of 1-10, Secretariat could not catch the 5-1 Onion, who led every step of the way to post one of the biggest upsets in Saratoga history.

Aug. 18, 1979: The weather was horrible, and the track was a sea of slop. But that didn't seem to bother General Assembly, who romped to win the Travers Stakes over second-place finisher Romp. How much of a romp? Ridden by Jacinto Vasquez, the General won by 15 lengths, the second-highest margin in race history. Oh, and he ran the fastest time (2:00), a mark that still stands today.

Aug. 25, 2012: And, at the wire for the 143rd running of the Travers, the winner is ... Alpha. And Golden Ticket. The Midsummer Derby ended in a dead heat as 2-1 Alpha, the favorite, and 33-1 Golden Ticket could not be separated by a photo. It was the first dead heat in race history, and that's why you'll see two canoes in the infield this summer. Oh, Fast Falcon, who closed like a freight train to get third, only was beaten by a neck.

Aug. 1, 1985: The Test Stakes was going to be the next start for the best 3-year-old filly in the land, Mom's Command. She just had completed a sweep of the New York Filly Triple Crown by winning the Acorn, Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park. The seven-furlong race at the Spa was not supposed to be a test at all. Well, someone forgot to tell Lady's Secret. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly, who would go off the favorite in 25 of her final 26 starts, was a bargain on this day.

She was 10-1. At the end, though, Lady's Secret was two lengths better than Mom's Command, who would go on to win the Alabama Stakes in her final start later in the meet. Lady's Secret won the Ballerina later in the Spa season and then came back the next season to beat the boys in the Whitney.

Aug. 8, 1914: In 1915, Regret made some history when she became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby. She showed signs of things to come when she took on the boys in her very first start, which came at Saratoga. She won the Saratoga Special. If that wasn't enough, she then beat the boys again in the Sanford and Hopeful before doing it in the big one in Louisville.

Aug. 20, 1994: On the way to becoming Horse of the Year, Holy Bull stopped in Saratoga to run against four rivals in the Travers. Ridden by Mike Smith, Holy Bull took the lead out of the gate and seemed to have the race in hand as he barreled into the stretch. But, as track announcer Tom Durkin said in his call, "There is cause for Concern..." The horse by the same name was gobbling up the Spa track and posed a legit threat to the Bull. Holy Bull would not let him by and won the race by a neck.

Aug. 24, 2003: This was a horse race. The Test Stakes had a furious stretch drive between You and jockey Jerry Bailey and Carson Hollow and her rider, John Velazquez. Bailey got You through a narrow opening on the inside turning for home, and they engaged Carson Hollow and Johnny V, who were right to their outside. It looked like you could not slide a piece of paper between the two fillies; they were that close. In the end, it was Bailey and You who got the win by the narrowest of noses.

Aug. 29, 1998: Talk about your tight finish! The Travers of this year could have been a triple dead heat! At the finish of it, Coronado's Quest and jockey Mike Smith had a bigger nose than Victory Gallop and rider Alex Solis, who looked to finish at the same time. And, to make matters even more gummy for the stewards, the James Bond-trained Raffie's Majesty arrived late at the finish; he and jockey Jorge Chavez were only a nose away from the winner's circle as well.

July 29, 1866: Kentucky made history the year before when he became the first winner of a race called the Travers Stakes. He wasn't done with his summer running, though. He returned to run a purse race the following year. It was only four miles! Can you imagine? He won, but he always did. In his career, he hit the winner's circle in 21 of 22 starts and became one of the first superstars of the sport.

Sept. 5, 2009: Rachel Alexandra, the 3-year-old wonder filly who already had beaten the boys twice in the season, tried again in the Woodward Stakes on closing weekend. The heavily favored Rachel powered to the lead and then held off a late charge to beat Macho Again by a head as the Saratoga rafters rocked and rolled.

Aug. 15, 1953: The Grey Ghost, Native Dancer, was perhaps the first horse to captivate the nation through this new idea called television. He won the Travers Stakes at odds of 1-5, winning by 5 1/2 lengths, to keep his popularity alive. He would win his next four races to finish with 21 wins in 22 starts. The only loss? The Kentucky Derby.

Aug. 13, 1919: The mighty Man o'War, considered by many to be the greatest thoroughbred ever, once won a race by 100 lengths. That is no typo. In his career, he went to the races 21 times and won 20. The one time he lost came in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga. There were no starting gates back then, and Man o'War got off to a slow start, spotting Upset several lengths. He almost caught him, but lost by a half length. And no, this race was not the origin of the sports term "upset."

Aug. 21, 1920: Man o'War made up for the loss at the Spa in the Travers. He would face his nemesis Upset and just one other horse in the Midsummer Derby. There would be no upset on this day, as the big chestnut beat Upset by 2 1/2 lengths and ran the race in a swift 2:01.80, a time that would stand as the race's best for 42 years.

Aug. 18, 1962: Neither Jaipur nor Ridan ever were inducted to the Hall of Fame. But the two put on quite a show in the 93rd Travers, maybe the best race ever in the long history of the Midsummer Derby. Jaipur, the Belmont winner, and Ridan, who was second in the Preakness, hooked up from the start of the 1 1/4 miles and stayed glued to each other. The last mile, the two horses were never more than a head bob apart. At the end, it was Jaipur and jockey Bill Shoemaker who got the final bob over Ridan and rider Manny Ycaza. The final time of 2:01.6 beat Man o'War's record.

Aug. 19, 1978: The Travers Stakes would be the last time that arch rivals Affirmed and Alydar would see each other on the racetrack, and a record crowd of 50,122 came to see it. Affirmed had beaten Alydar in all three legs of the Triple Crown by slim margins. In the Travers, Affirmed was ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., because regular rider Steve Cauthen had been injured in a Spa spill 10 days earlier. Affirmed won the race but was disqualified and placed second after he came over in the stretch, forcing Alydar's rider Jorge Velasquez to take up sharply.

Aug. 17, 1995: Steeplechase racing has been a part of Spa summers for years, and the New York Turf Writer's Cup is the highlight of the jumping season at Saratoga. Lonesome Glory, a 7-year-old who was the champion jumper of 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999, won this race for the only time in his career, but he had to work to do it. He carried a whopping 166 pounds — including jockey Blythe Miller — on his back as he navigated the 2 3/8 miles and won by a neck over Mistico. Tough horse.

Aug. 28, 1987: The streak had to start somewhere, and it started right here, in a race called the Empire Stakes for New York-breds. Fourstardave, who was not well known at this point, won that race, and the legend began. From 1987 until 1994, Fourstardave won at least one race every summer at the Spa. Twenty one of his 100 career starts came at Saratoga, and the "Sultan of Saratoga" won nine of them.

Aug. 19, 1967: He only appeared at Saratoga one time, but Damascus made sure he made an impression. Third in the Kentucky Derby, the colt then won the Preakness and Belmont and then won three of four more starts before coming to Saratoga for the Travers. Only three other horses got into the starting gate with Damascus, and the son of 1959 Travers winner Sword Dancer got smaller to them in a hurry. He and jockey Bill Shoemaker won the race by 22 lengths, still the largest margin of victory in the race.

Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, 1978: Before meeting in their epic showdown in the Travers, Affirmed and Alydar had to get to the race with Saratoga wins. Alydar was up first, and he seemed to have the tougher job, taking on older horses in the Whitney Handicap. It didn't prove so hard at all, as he romped to win the race by eight lengths. Affirmed, the Triple Crown winner, had to work for his win. He entered the Jim Dandy and had to rally from a 10-length deficit before getting by Sensitive Prince and winning by a half length. It was his ninth straight win.

Aug. 23, 1974: All Ruffian ever wanted to do was run. And, for the short time she was here, she did just that. In her first 10 starts, the closest anyone got to her before she crossed the finish line was 2 1/4 lengths. In her only Saratoga start, she blitzed three other 2-year-old fillies by 12 3/4 lengths in a blazing time of 1:08.6 for six furlongs. When Secretariat was a 2-year-old, he won the six-furlong Sanford in a time of 1:10.

Aug. 2, 1981: New York breds were not supposed to win races like the Whitney Handicap back in the day. No one told that to Fio Rito, a grey who invaded Saratoga after being a dominant horse at Finger Lakes Race Track. He was owned by a guy who ran a bowling alley in Rochester. This horse couldn't beat horses from the powerful Phipps and Rockeby Stables, could he? Oh yeah, he could. Despite nearly breaking through the gate before the race, Fio Rito and jockey Les Hulet shocked the racing hierarchy, going all the way on the lead to become the first New York-bred to win a Grade I race. Of course, it's not such a big deal now. But it was then.

Aug. 3, 1968: The Whitney Handicap has been run at 1 1/8 miles since 1955. It's called a handicap race, because the better horses are asked to carry more weight. Dr. Fager was one of the better horses. In this year's Whitney, he was asked to carry 130 pounds, including jockey Braulio Baeza, the most of any winner in the history of the race. He responded this way: Dr. Fager, sent off at odds of 1-20, overpowered three opponents to win the race by eight lengths. Dr. Fager, the 1968 Horse of the Year, carried 130 or more pounds in the final eight races of his career. He won seven of them.

Aug. 16, 1930: Gallant Fox, the sport's second Triple Crown winner, was the horse to beat in the 61st Travers. Bookmakers made him the 1-2 favorite in the field of four. The longest shot? That was Jim Dandy, who was 100-1. On a muddy racetrack in front of 30,000 people, one of the top upsets in Spa history unfolded as Jim Dandy beat Gallant Fox by eight lengths. It was the only win in 20 starts for the longshot. But he had done it before at the Spa. A year earlier, at 50-1 odds, Jim Dandy had won the Grand Union Hotel Stakes. On a muddy track.

Aug. 21, 1982: The Travers was billed as the battle between the winners of that year's Kentucky Derby winner (Gato del Sol), Preakness (Aloma's Ruler) and Belmont (Conquistador Cielo). With the hype those three got, no one paid much mind to the other two horses in the race, Lejoli and Runaway Groom. Conquistador Cielo, the 1-5 favorite, and Aloma's Ruler went at each other down the backstretch and into the stretch. At the end, though, it was 12-1 shot Runaway Groom, owned by Schenectady's Albert Coppola, who went by the both of them. Runaway Groom, trailing at one point by 15 lengths, paid $27.80, the fifth-largest payoff for a $2 bet in the race's history.

Aug. 16, 1941: Of the 11 horses that have won the Triple Crown, only three made it to the Travers Stakes. Gallant Fox got upset, and Affirmed got disqualified. Thank goodness for Whirlaway. The 1941 Triple Crown winner came to the Spa and only faced two foes in the Midsummer Derby. On a muddy track, Whirly — as he was called — allowed the two other horses, Lord Kitchener and Fairymant, to go for the lead while he loped along in the rear. With 130 pounds on his back (the most a Travers winner ever had to carry), Whirlaway ran by both horses easily in the stretch to win by three lengths. He was ridden by Al Robertson, who was subbing for regular rider Eddie Arcaro, who was serving a suspension.